In the last couple of weeks, it has been something of a big “human interest” story that people have been buying George Orwell’s 1984 en masse in a reaction to the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States. Naturally, commentators have flocked to this, clucking that this is proof that dystopia is
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With the election of Donald Trump (your president and mine!), I decided that it has become increasingly relevant for us all to read some of his books to get an idea of how the man “ticks”. And so I picked up The Art of the Deal. Having done so, I can say that I’m glad:
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“My body, my choice! My body, my choice!” The popular slogan chanted by pro-choice supporters during pro-life gatherings is a defiant declaration to all anti-abortion advocates and lawmakers, a woman’s uterus is off limits to any and all government regulations. It’s a statement which – supposedly – represents freedom for all women to decide the fate of an unborn
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Abortion continues to be a controversial topic in society. For progressive extremists and liberal feminists, the practice is seen as a woman’s rights issue. But for many others, it is an issue about life and the right of an unborn child to live. The reasons why women get abortions vary. Some do it because of
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In history, there has been both diplomacy and war. At times, diplomacy saves the world and other times it provides false hope we’ve averted chaos. War can be successful in defeating an enemy, in other times it can be a demoralizing failure. The various events in history teach us there is a time and place
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The immigration debate is one of contention, hurt feelings, and misinformation. Groups defending different approaches often use faulty knowledge and divisive rhetoric, all while ignoring important points being made by both sides. As a result, truth and basic moral principles are ignored — by everyone. Especially those who mean well. As explained by Mises Institute’s
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So, two weeks ago, there was a bit of a row between media personalities Steve Harvey and Eddie Huang. As usual, I found out about these celebrity foibles from reading Steve Sailer’s Unz column after the dust settled. However, seeing that this was a delightful example of “intersectionality” devolving into its typical contest, I took
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During the Republican presidential primary in 2012, Saturday Night Live, in their parody of the debate, had a questioner ask the actor playing candidate Ron Paul as to whether he would rescue puppies from a burning building; to whit, he replied, “No. It’s none of my business.” Jokes, as Groucho Marx tells us, are opinions
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The Women’s March has been an enormous moment in politics and likely will be remembered by history as a prominent moment in political resistance. Across the country and in the nation’s capital, concerned citizens and angered activists are swarming to allow their voices to be heard. Americans are utilizing their right to assemble and speak
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Last week, I wrote an article discussing why the fabled “Great American Novel” will likely never come to pass. In said article, I posited that the main reason this is the case is because American culture is a heavily guilt-laden culture. Most unusually, I posited that, contrary to the old claim of Americans being super-fanatically
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The Left has declared an all-out war on firearms because of the American independence and individualism they represent. Hillary Clinton, the most anti-gun presidential candidate in recent memory, proposed a bevy of gun-control measures aimed at disarming as many Americans as possible. First she championed a ban on ‘assault weapons’, then a ban on ‘high
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For a nation to truly be a nation and not just an economic zone of atomized individualists hustling for gold, it needs a shared culture; culture, of course, being any pattern of shared behavior in a population that cannot be attributed to genetics; the stronger and more homogeneous the population, the more robust and alive
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On Monday night, “Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe joined Tucker Carlson on Fox News to discuss Ford’s and Chrysler’s respective plans to reinvest in U.S. manufacturing. Rowe, who is a proponent of technical and skilled jobs, told Carlson, “Get a skill that’s in demand, that’s really in demand, that can’t be outsourced. Plumbers, steamfitters, pipefitters,
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President-Elect Donald Trump’s new Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, is the best pick in the history of the Department of Education since its inception, in this veteran teacher’s opinion. With her school choice prescription, she is just the medicine that a failing educational system needs to restore it to health. Her long time support of the
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I don’t know when it started, but I recently realized a concept that disturbed me: I have grown to utterly hate the phrase “The American Dream.” I’m hardly the only one who feels this way. I have had many a smug European tourist or exchange student lecture me on how the concept “enables [your] worst
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Before his death, Christopher Hitchens recoiled from claims by both conservatives and his former comrades on the Left that he had moved rightward because of his support for The War On Terror. Hitchens countered that he still found the Vietcong “heroic,” still found Che Guevera an admirable figure, and still described himself as “a Marxist:
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It is often said that political parties are ruining the dignity of American discourse. Instead of discussing policy points, many identify with one of two partisan identities and allow their loyalties to fall in line. Here, policy support shapes around their team and they turn against whatever the other side opposes. It’s shallow. And it
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The Second Amendment is among the most controversial topics in society, especially in recent years. With a number of shootings occur, the media and politicking partisans seize on every tragic opportunity to push a failed policy proposal. The idea is that with increased regulation and more difficulty in acquiring firearms, gun violence will decrease. It
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“The crucial feature of our troubled world is its tragic division.” That is the opening statement of Elton Trueblood’s book titled Declaration of Freedom, and those words are just as true now as they were sixty some odd years ago when he first penned them. If there is anything that this past year has made
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The phrases “will to power” and “Übermensch” carry around with them the stench of Nazism and other forms of fascism; that is, most people associate the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1944-1900) with the Right rather than the Left. In the public imagination, the mustachioed madman is an anti-Semite and racial supremacist. On one hand this
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In Puritan America, only church members were allowed to vote in political elections. In progressive America, talking heads want the executive branch represented only by Democrats. To those willing to participate in the political aspect of their communities at the time, adhering to pure doctrine was the only way in. And candidates were only accepted
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The Left’s totalitarian ideology doesn’t lend much credence to diversity of thought, viewpoint, or opinion. While leftists on college campuses are gunning for diversity of skin color and ethnicity, they decry opposing views as physically harmful. Both students and faculty retreat to the cocoon of so-called ‘safe spaces’ to shield themselves from the scourge of
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December 7, 43 BC What does it take to be a philosopher-statesman? To dedicate one’s life to public service, to approach the issues of the day with a level head, to remain reasonable in the face of radicalism, and, above all, to carry your convictions through to their logical end, even if it costs your
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The presidential election was a battle between populist emotion and a moderate establishment. While the pundits, journalists, and political elite all declared Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had the election in the bag, this turned out not to be the case. And it wasn’t even close. Sort of. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, the bombastic businessman
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Not all news coming from academia these days is necessarily bad news. In my own little corner of this world, some of it is actually quite good, and it’s all that much sweeter when it is considered within the larger context of contemporary events. At a time when universities and colleges around the country are
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Corruption in government is a given in any society. As human beings, some are more susceptible to kickbacks and more easily enticed by perks. This is how people like Republican United States Senator Susan Collins run for office pledging to serve only two terms and end up hanging around for much longer. Warriors go to the
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The struggle over states’ rights versus federal control is as much philosophical as it is political. Since before the ratification of the Constitution and the early days of the American Revolution, prominent historical figures debated the proper way to separate power and just how much freedom people should have from their government. Would a strong
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One difficult aspect of living as a libertarian in a less-than-free society is that we cannot describe to our opponents with absolute certainty how a genuinely free market would look. We are left to rely on thought experiments and the examples of existing businesses models to compare to the State. If I want to discuss
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In recent years the political philosophy of libertarianism has gained in popularity and interest. Libertarianism as a philosophy concerns itself with the justified and unjustified use of force in society. The guiding principle behind libertarianism is the “non-aggression principle” in which “aggression” is defined as the initiation or threat of violence against persons and their
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Parents who plan on refinancing their homes in order to send their children off to college should instead consider encouraging them to specialize in a trade. Speaking as a Ph.D. in philosophy who has spent the last 17 years teaching at the college level, I’m perhaps the last person from whom advice of this sort
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Kingdom of Kent, Saxon England, 932 – Newly anointed King Arthur tours his realm seeking knights for the round table at Camelot. He bore with him the decree of none other than God Himself, ordained by Heaven to rule the Angles and Saxons. Alas, for yon head-choppy days of yore were dark times for God’s
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I am a healthy 42-year-old caucasian male. However, if the World Health Organization’s proposed rules are passed, I will be “disabled”. Forget that less than a year ago, I completed an Ironman. Even though I am able to swim 2.4 miles, ride my bike 112 miles, and run a marathon, I am soon going to
MoreThe latest link in a long chain of electoral drama, Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump sparred mercilessly in Wednesday’s debate and following press conferences over whether the losing side would “accept the outcome” of the national election. What exactly does that mean? Usually, accepting the outcome of the election means you concede the election
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You have the right to wave your hand in the air, but you don’t have the right to hit me in the nose. America was established upon the foundation of a self-governing people. This means that each individual is entitled to the rights of life, liberty, and property. With each right, there is also a
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Hello, comrade. Are you a millenial? Are you a former or current democrat that is fed up with the two primary parties? Did you recently attend an International Students for Liberty Conference? Are you looking for something new and edgy? Did you study sociology, gender studies, Marxist theory, or post-modernism, and little to no economics
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I am privileged. Despite growing up in a poor family in one of the most impoverished counties in rural North Florida, in a century-old farmhouse with no air conditioning and a woodburning stove that we all had to huddle around in the winter. Despite the fact that after high school I worked construction for $11 an hour
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We live in dark times in America and the outrage abroad is justified. The government is spying on its citizens, exiling whistleblowers, and the justice system is out of control. Statistics show us that, to a degree, there is a race problem, with African Americans more likely to be arrested for certain offenses. While this
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The world is certainly a dark place. War is neverending, poverty still haunts much of the world, and injustice is strong even in the free world. The United States of America is supposed to be a beacon of hope and freedom for the world to see, or so the story goes. But the truth about
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Not long ago, National Review writer Jonah Goldberg discussed the “alt-right” with Hugh Hewitt on the latter’s talk radio show. They agreed that, at bottom, the movement upon which Hillary Clinton bestowed national recognition last month was “racist” and “supremacist.” As such, it deserved to be purged from the GOP and the conservative movement. The
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Former Texas Congressman Ron Paul liked to discuss the importance of education and note that the movement was bigger than any one presidential campaign. Twice he tried to secure the Republican presidential nomination and was rejected by a party full of neoconservatives. Despite failing to capture the nomination, Paul did succeed in launching a movement.
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George Takei is an actor best known for playing Hikaru Sulu on Star Trek and has more recently become a famous Internet personality. He is a personable human being with a great sense of humor. He is one who also makes his political views known, which to a degree, are interesting. He is a Democrat
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If your faith isn’t directing you to plant vineyards and guard them with the sword, it might not be faith at all. If you’ve ever nurtured an apple crop through to harvest, enduring heat waves, hailstorms, coddling moth infestations, and property taxes, only to see a family in a brand new SUV stealing apples during
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In recent years, the rise of the LGBT fight has ignited a bitter feud with the religious right. Unaccepting of the LGBT lifestyle, the religious right has sought to use the force of government to combat it. Attempts range from wanting to pass constitutional amendments to define marriage as one-man one-woman, to limiting various rights
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The Pledge of Allegiance and Standing for the National Anthem are necessary and wholesome public rituals. We celebrate the house that shelters us, even as we strive to repair and restore it. I live in a very beautiful place with a fair amount of history attached to it, so when I had the opportunity to
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American politics have an interesting dynamic. While many ordinary citizens lament the partisan gridlock and lackluster political candidates, the gridlock continues as the typical candidates still get elected. Eventually, we reach a point where we are now. Voters are overwhelmed with outrage and contempt for the system, resulting in someone like bombastic businessman Donald Trump
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This November, for some Christians, personal holiness will dictate a protest vote against Donald Trump. Is this really conscience, or something darker? Over my years as a believer, I’ve seen personal holiness measured in strange ways. One Sunday morning, after my wife was introduced to a member of the praise team as a “baby Christian,”
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In the mainstream narrative of American politics, the Republican Party is the pro-war party. After President George W. Bush took over, everything in America changed. He took advantage of the 9/11 terrorist attack to justify a global assault on whatever the threat of the moment was. One minute it was something in Afghanistan, then it
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The vaccination topic can become as heated as the GMO topic. On the one hand, we want to eradicate disease and lead a healthier society. But on the other hand, to what degree does the government have the right to require what we do with our bodies? The science of the topic isn’t enough when
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A consistent storyline this election cycle that dates back to the primaries is Donald Trump’s tax returns. To date, he has refused to release his tax returns, citing an ongoing audit and advice from his lawyers to not release them until the audit is complete. Regardless of the factual basis of this claim, it’s bizarre
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Frankly, unless one is an anti-government anarchist at one end of the great ideological divide, or a totalitarian fascist on the other, it is always a matter of degree as to how much we have in common. Moreover, most persons’ rhetoric is more purist and extremist than where they stand in reality. There is a
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